Page 86 - HCPVitalityChronicles

Sandra Medina Walks and Runs Her Way to Health

and to Becoming a Vitality Champ

Sandra Medina, Care Team Mem- has been with HCP for 10
ber 2, HCP San Antonio, remem- years this February. She
bers well her days of inactivity. herself loves coffee, and has
“Before, I was the baseball mom,” won $15 Starbucks cards
she said. “I would take my son to through playing the
baseball practice and just sit monthly Vitality Squares
there, eating seeds and chips, not game. She also used a lot of
exercising.” her Amazon credit through
Vitality to purchase a lot of
At the urging of her former site items for her Dodgers
administrator Carol Hagen Howell, Christmas tree this year.
Medina joined Vitality in 2011. “I Vitality champ Sandra Medina at the Color Run and at the Other fun purchases include
had been gaining so much weight, Dodger Stadium with her son. sports items for her kids
Medina recalled. At this time, she and an arm band that seals
registered with the wellness program and started taking her cell phone, which is particularly helpful during her
group site walks. Slowly but surely, over time, her activity many runs.
level increased. She also started eating healthier.
Another plus from the many walks and runs she does is
She remembers an epiphany she had when with her son at that she has been able to bond more with her two boys,
baseball practice. She offered to catch with him. “When I who are 13 and 16. The runs also inspire good competition
was running to get the balls, I was so out of breath and so between her sons, who try to win.
out of shape. I thought, ‘I need to get moving.’”
Medina’s commitment is noticed and appreciated by oth-
In 2013, she joined the adult softball team at the same ers. “Sandra is committed not only to her own personal
park where her son plays, and she played in 2013 and wellness, but the entire sites as the Vitality champion for
2014. In 2014, she lost 20 pounds, but she had trimmed San Antonio,” said Cheryl Marks, Administrator 2, HCP San
down even more before that. At the HCP Bixby site, she Antonio. “She takes it very seriously and is always creative
participated in the Biggest Loser competition and lost 10 and thinking outside of the box for the team. She wants
pounds, then subsequently lost a bit more weight. And she the best for everyone here at the site. Sandra is reliable
did many walks in 2014—including a 5K at Dodger Stadium and her commitment to her position and to Vitality show
in September, a walk for diabetes at Knott’s Berry Farm in that she is willing to go above and beyond as a Vitality
October, the Light the Night walk for the Leukemia & Lym- champion.”
phoma Society in October, for which she was a team
leader, and many others. The greatest benefit is how Medina feels now. “Before, I
was sluggish; I didn’t want to do much,” she said. “Now I
Additionally, she started serving as a Vitality champ at the feel great. I’m very motivated and an up and going type of
HCP San Antonio site in 2014. “I love motivating people to person. Anybody can do it. If I can do it, you can.”
join; I tell them they can get free stuff,” said Medina, who
All information in the Vitality program is HIPAA protected. Members have chosen to share their personal health accomplishments.
For more information about the Vitality program, visit www.powerofvitality.com or contact Janet Galli.